Law lets Nigerian student who battled illness and excelled at college stay in U.S.

3:36 PM, December 18, 2012

Victor Chukwueke of Oak Park poses with his mother, Mary Chukwueke, and the man he calls his dad in America, Jerry Burns, at his Wayne State University graduation in May 2011. Chukwueke can stay in the U.S. thanks to new legislation passed by Congress. The bill now heads to President Barack Obama. / Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON – A Nigerian student who has battled illness and fought to remain in the U.S. since moving to Michigan more than a decade ago will be allowed to stay under legislation that received final congressional approval Tuesday and was headed to President Barack Obama for his signature.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., sponsored the legislation that the U.S. House passed on a voice vote Tuesday. It allows Sopuruchi Chukwueke – who goes by the name Victor – to remain in the U.S. despite the expiration of his visa. The Senate had already approved the bill.

“Victor’s amazing courage and determination exemplify much of what is so great about our country,” Levin said. “Already, his example has enriched Michigan and our nation, but I know that his contributions to our country are only beginning.”

According to Levin’s office, Chukwueke was born into poverty in Nigeria and diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that affects the growth of nerve cells and led to tumors deforming his face. After his parents put Chukwueke in an orphanage, Catholic nuns there made arrangements to bring him to the U.S. for treatment when he was 15.

Chukwueke moved to Southfield and he underwent seven surgeries over the next 11 years. Meanwhile, he graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and chemical biology and had a 3.82 grade point average.

Levin’s legislation – which he wrote because Chukwueke faced deporation – granted him permanent legal resident status. Such bills, known as private bills, seldom become law, but immigration authorities generally defer deportation proceedings while such a bill is pending, Levin’s office said.

Chukwueke, 26, intends to enroll in medical school at the University of Toledo, which has been waiting for his immigration status to be resolved.

Last year, the Free Press wrote about Chukwueke and his dreams of becoming a surgeon, as well as his reunion with his mother, who had sent him to missionary nuns as a teenager in hopes his condition could be treated.

She never expected to see him again, but WSU, Levin and Quicken Loans got involved and helped make the reunion reality. A relative of Quicken founder Dan Gilbert has the same genetic disorder.

The passage of private bills has become exceedingly rare: A look at Library of Congress records suggests this is the only such bill to pass in the current two-year term. Two passed in the 2009-10 term, both also dealing with immigration and residency status.